Ducks and Winter : Our Other Animals

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Just got three female Muscovy ducks a few weeks ago, another new adventure in my continuing journey with animals. They've been great but after giving one or two eggs a day between the three of them there hasn't been any eggs now for a couple of weeks. I'm guessing they have a laying cycle similar to chickens and will slow down or stop laying completely in the winter.

How do those of you that have ducks prepare them for the winter? I have been under the impression that they always need water nearby and I have a bucket of water in with them that they apparently like to dunk their heads in. Do they handle winter as well as the chickens do? The chickens have done well the last few years outside in the coop with the water changed regularly but if the ducks need water to splash around in I'll have to rig something up to keep it defrosted. I don't have power out to the animals because I worry about fire as the coops and rabbit colony are basically tinder boxes of wood and straw under some giant pine trees that run up alongside the house. One spark and... boom, no house.

I've never had ducks, but I would think their requirements would be similar to those of geese. Geese love a pond, but they can to quite nicely with just a bucket. The important thing is that they can dip deep enough to clean their nostrils and eyes in reasonably clean water daily. I would suggest anchoring their bucket to keep it from spilling and make sure they are tall enough to use it easily without upending and getting stuck. I had that happen to a half-grown gosling once and it would have drowned if I hadn't been nearby. It may have been a fluke occurence, but thought I should mention it.